The man believed to be behind what is considered the ‘worst day in the history of the Russian air force’ is a former DJ.
Artem Tymofieiev, 37, is the focus of a nationwide manhunt in Russia after more than 40 warplanes were blown up this weekend by unsuspecting lorries carrying drones.
Artem has emerged as the alleged mastermind behind ‘Operation Spider’s Web’, an audacious plot which saw Ukraine orchestrate drone launches within striking distance of major Russian bases.
He is now believed to be back in Ukraine but first moved to the Russian city of Chelyabinsk years ago.He took up work as an ‘entrepreneur’, which saw him operate several lorries for haulage.
He was a supporter of the Ukrainian revolution in 2014, which toppled pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych.
He and his wife previously lived in Kyiv and owned a clothing brand while working as a DJ on the side.
Reports show that he shared photos online from the Euromaidan protests and openly mocked Ukraine’s Putin-loving ex-president Yanukovych.
The Euromaidan protests began in November 2013 when the pro-Russian government attempted to reverse long-running efforts to integrate the country with Europe.
In February 2014, it was swept away after months of huge and often violent demonstrations, culminating in a revolution and the installation of a pro-European government.
It’s unclear if Tymofieiev was working for Kyiv intelligence the entire time he lived in Russia, or if he was recruited after the war began while living abroad.
One Russian blogger suggested he was a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’, helping to orchestrate the large attack from within Russian borders, while going seemingly undetected.
His wife also lived with him in Russia, working as a stylist and tattoo artist, even penning erotic novels. She’s suspected of aiding her husband in the audacious plot.
Here’s how the unsuspecting couple living in Russia helped orchestrate the attack which crippled Putin’s air forces.
How did the operation unfold?
Operation Spider’s Web targeted four air bases deep inside Russia – Belaya airfield in Irkutsk, Siberia; Olenya air base in Murmansk, near the Arctic Circle; Diaghilev air base in Ryazan; and a base near Ivanovo.
But managing to get drones across Russian borders and up to 2,000 miles inland is no easy feat.
Tymofieiev did run a haulage business and operated multiple lorries in his own name.
It seems he used this business as a front to trick heavy goods drivers into driving the drones, which they believed were wooden-framed homes, to the various locations.
Drivers Alexander and Andrei told local media they had been hired by a man named Artem, who provided the trucks, with each driver sent to separate locations near the four air bases.
When the drivers neared the air bases, they said they were called by an unknown number who told them where to stop the trucks. It was then that the drones were launched.
Photos and videos then showed how Operation Spider’s Web went off without a hitch – the drones launched from within the trucks, striking the nearby air bases, crippling the Russian air force.
Pro-Putin Telegram channels were flooded by reaction to the strikes, with some commentators calling them ‘Russia’s Pearl Harbour’ and the ‘blackest day in aviation’.
The planes hit by Ukraine are expensive and vital parts of Russia’s arsenal, with A-50 jets costing as much as £ 260 million each. Russia only has fewer than 10 of these planes in its possession.
Operation Spider’s Web appears to have been a success, with the whereabouts of Tymofieiev and his wife currently unknown.
The attack took Russian forces by surprise, but Putin appears to have launched a revenge attack overnight.
Cities across Ukraine were on fire today in savage new Russian strikes as the Kremlin dictator began exacting revenge for the destruction and damage to his nuclear-capable T-95MS and Tu-22M aircraft.
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